(TUSCON, AZ) - Southern Utah (2-4-0) took a 6-1 defeat to Arizona (4-0-3) in its opening match at the Arizona Cats Classic Friday night. The Thunderbirds fell behind 5-0 before getting a score from junior Kelsea Godfrey early in the second half. The Wildcats added a sixth goal from a fifth scorer a few minutes later to set the final margin at 6-1.

Arizona went ahead five minutes in as midfielder Ana-Maria Montoya got things going with a shot off a cross. Senior forward Jazmin Ponce added to the lead by converting a penalty kick halfway through the opening period for her fourth goal of the season. Kaitlyn Lopez then scored back-to-back goals in the 29th and 35th minutes to give the Wildcats a 4-0 advantage at the half.

UA stretched the margin to 5-0 in the 58th minute as Alexa Montgomery headed a ball into the top of the net.

Southern Utah got on the scoreboard in the 61st minute when Godfrey took a pass from Katie Jones and fired a shot past the keeper to bring the count to 5-1. The goal made her the tenth Thunderbird to record a score this season.

The Cats got the goal back a few minutes later on a score from Candace Edwards and went on to take the match by a 6-1 final.

Arizona held a 26-5 advantage in the shots column and took six corner kicks to Southern Utah’s one. Ponce, Hannah Wong and Emily Lai each had an assist for the Wildcats.

Up next for the Thunderbirds is matchup with Arizona State this Sunday at 12:00 p.m. (MT) Coverage of SUU soccer is available at www.suutbirds.com.